Cyberbullying: An Emerging
Threat to Our Students
by Jeffrey C. Sheppard
Joanne saw some girls bullying Jessica at school and reported the
bullying to the office. By the time Joanne got home from school she had
35 angry messages in her email box and even more angry text messages on
her cell phone. Most of the messages were anonymous. Some appeared to
be from strangers living in other parts of the country. Now, on a daily
basis, Joanne gets many email and text messages using vulgar and insulting
language.
Greg, an obese high school student, was changing in the locker room after
gym class. Matt took a covert picture of him with his cell phone camera.
Within seconds, he sent it to classmates. Soon the picture was flying around
to cell phones at school. By the time Greg left the locker room, all the
students were laughing at him.
When Annie broke up with her boyfriend, Sam, he sent her many angry,
threatening, pleading messages. When Annie blocked his email account, Sam
continued to send messages either by email or text message. When Annie
still refused to get back with him, Sam posed as Annie in a sex-oriented
discussion group and posted a sexually suggestive picture that Annie had
given him, along with her email address and cell phone number.
(Willard 2005)
hese are just a few of the many cyberbullying
occurrences that have been increasing at a
frightening rate around the world. The use of
bullying by threats, gossip, rumors, and humiliation have
been around for years, but the problem today exists with
a generation that is “always connected and always wired.”
Many of today’s teens find interacting with their social and
peer groups via the Internet and cell phones preferable to
face-to-face communication, a fact that has created a “global
anomaly” of an “always on” generation (Belsey 2005). This
virtual type of interaction, along with pervasive postmodern
thinking, has resulted in a potential social structure of
relativistic, irrational, and “disattached” people. Although
our students may not be integrally involved in this type of
behavior, they are a part of this global anomaly, and the
opportunities for them to get sucked into this vacuum are all
too common.
the University of New Hampshire’s Crimes Against Children
Research Center, 1 in 17 kids ages 10 to 17 had been threatened or harassed online, and about one-third of those found
the incidents extremely distressing (Paulson 2003). A study
in Britain last year by the NCH, a British children’s charity,
found that 1 in 4 students had been bullied online. Of these
bullied young people, 16 percent received bullying or threatening text messages, 7 percent were harassed in Internet
chat rooms, and 4 percent became victims through email
(NCH 2005). I-Safe America, an organization promoting Web
safety, conducted a survey of 1,500 students in 4th through
8th grades. The results of the survey revealed that 42 percent
of these students had been bullied online and that 53 percent
of them admitted to saying something mean or hurtful to
someone else online (Lisante 2005).
Our Problem?
Bill Belsey, a Canadian parent and educator, was so
moved by the Colorado Columbine High School shooting
that he decided to provide an online resource for people to
learn about and get help with bullying. After the launch
of this website, he noticed a new epidemic rising, and in
response he put together the www.cyberbullying.org website,
which has become a haven for some and a source of information for others. Through his work in helping cyberbullied
teens, Belsey observed that teens do not look at the Internet
as adults do. He says that “adults see the Internet as a resource or a ‘place that they can go to’ to serve their needs.
T
“This isn’t a problem for our students” may be a thought
that is running through your mind. Well, think again. The
Pew Internet and American Life Project reports that about 17
million kids ages 12 to 17 use the Internet. They have also
found that teens have embraced IM (instant messaging)—74
percent of teens use IM, compared with 44 percent of adults
(Lisante 2005). Although most cyberbullying doesn’t reach
extremes, it is still very damaging to the emotional health of
the victims because they have no refuge—even their home is
a place where they can be attacked. According to a study by
44
Why the Increase in
Cyberbullying?
2006–2007 | CSE Volume 10 Number 3 | Cyberbullying: An Emerging Threat to Our Students
WAYS OF CYBERBULLYING
Young people don’t think
of it as being separate from
their lives; increasingly it
is a normal and ‘natural’
part of their world” (2005).
Cyberbullying, like other
forms of bullying, is about a
feeling of power and control
in relationships. Online
bullying is particularly
tempting to adolescents
since anyone with access to a
computer or a cell phone can
participate. The following
are some reasons that it is on
the rise:
• Cyberbullying can often
occur under the radar
screen of adults (Belsey
2005). Many of today’s
youth are given personal
access to a computer in
private places such as their
bedroom. Parents rationalize that they will not see
any problems since there
is a software filter on the
computers. They don’t
realize that filters pick up
words or website addresses,
not ideas or variations of
obscenities.
• F
LAMING. Online “fights” using electronic messages with angry and vulgar
language.
• H
ARASSMENT. Repeatedly sending offensive, rude, and insulting messages.
• C
YBERSTALKING. Repeatedly sending
messages that include threats of harm
or are highly intimidating. Engaging
in other online activities that
make a person afraid for his or her
safety.
• D
ENIGRATION. “Dissing” someone online. Sending or posting cruel gossip
or rumors about a person to damage
his or her reputation or friendships.
• I
MPERSONATION. Breaking into someone’s account, posing as that person
and sending messages to make the
person look bad, get that person in
trouble or danger, or damage that
person’s reputation or friendships.
• O
UTING AND TRICKERY. Sharing
someone’s secrets or embarrassing
information online. Tricking someone
into revealing secrets or embarrassing information, which is then shared
online.
• E
XCLUSION. Intentionally excluding
someone from an online group, like a
“buddy list” or a game.
considered always connected
and always wired. As they continue to grow and participate
in this culture of the Internet,
they need to have the tools and
understanding to both protect
themselves and serve as a positive light in the darkness. Some
of those who are cyberbullies
are just adolescents who are
struggling with relationships
and personal identity. It is
important that we as Christian
educators and administrators
pursue both the protection of
those who may be hurt and the
consequences for those who
inflict harm—with a foundation
of love, for love truly does cover
a multitude of sins:
Whoever turns a sinner
from the error of his way
will save him from death
and cover over a multitude
of sins. (James 5:20, NIV)
Above all, love each other
deeply, because love covers
over a multitude of sins.
(1 Peter 4:8, NIV)
(Willard 2005)
• Cyberbullying provides no tangible feedback or consequence. Often the perpetrator remains unchallenged and
anonymous (Belsey 2005).
• Cyberbullying provides a false sense of superiority or security, which tends to lead to increased boldness or attack—as
opposed to situations in which a bully is face-to-face with
the other person.
• Cyberbullying can communicate a hurtful message to a
very wide audience with incredible speed (Belsey 2005).
This ability helps reinforce the sense of power and control
the cyberbully desires to feel.
• Unfortunately, cyberbullying is often outside the legal
reach of schools and school boards because this behavior
often happens outside school and on personal computers
or cell phones (Belsey 2005). There is an increase in legislation that provides protection and a place for reciprocity, but
some of this legislation is still being worked out through
the court systems.
What’s Next?
Whether or not your students are the bullies of cyberspace, they are a part of this millennial generation that is
References
Belsey, Bill. 2005. Cyberbullying: An emerging threat to the “always
on” generation. December. http://www.cyberbullying.ca/pdf/
feature_dec2005.pdf.
Crimes Against Children Research Center. n.d. Youth Internet safety
survey. http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/youth_internet_safety
_survey.html.
Lisante, Joan E. 2005. Cyber bullying: No muscles needed. Connect
for Kids. June 6. http://www.connectforkids.org/node/3116.
NCH. 2004. Internet safety FAQ. November 22. http://www.nch.org
.uk/information/index.php?i=134#87.
Paulson, Amanda. 2003. Internet bullying. Christian Science Monitor
(December 30), http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1230/p11s
01-legn.html.
Willard, Nancy. 2005. An educator’s guide to cyberbullying and
cyberthreats. Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use.
http://www.doe.state.in.us/isssa/pdf/cyber_bullying_educators
.pdf.
Jeffrey C. Sheppard, MEd, is the director of curriculum and
professional development for Morrison Academy in Taiwan.
Cyberbullying: An Emerging Threat to Our Students | CSE Volume 10 Number 3 | 2006–2007
45